3.0 liter diesel half tons - real world experience

Anyone have any experience with this new lot of trucks/engines? I know they cost more than their base engine counterparts, but on cars.com they can be had for within spitting distance of a gas v8 model and they burn roughly 35% less fuel and obviously have better range etc.

If the EPA is to be believed, all these trucks appear pretty efficient and produce plenty of power for what would be a 90% daily driver/baby hauler with plenty of room for big strollers and then haul a 6x12ish enclosed on the weekends to the track.

Would like to hear people's experience who have driven them. The Ram appears the nicest by miles on the interior. My inner 7yr old loves the ideal of a Rebel cause it looks the coolest and has a nice interior. Ford is meh all around and the GMC/Chevy look nice, but the interior is oh so rental car. Straight 6s are cooler than v6s however.

 

One of my track buddies sold his ram eco diesel and went back to the gasser. Nothing but problems with the Italian coal roller.

@dobr24 can tell you about the Nissan one lol.

 

3.5 Ecoboost > oil burner

 

I've heard some good and some awful ecodiesel stories, but apparently for 2020 they've made a ton of technical changes that are supposed to be improvements solving many of the previously identified issues. I liked the idea of the Nissan until I drove one. Just much larger/bulkier than what I require and does not get anywhere near the mileage being claimed for the 6 cylinder diesel trucks. Sounded cool though.

 

I just bought an F150 with the 3.0 diesel. I was hesitant at first but so far love it. Only 1,600 and haven't towed anything yet so have not gotten to really test it. I did get 25 hand calculated mpg on my 2nd tank on a road trip which was a nice change from my Tundra

 

Drove a 15 ecodiesel Ram for about a year. Was a trade in to our dealership. Fuel economy on the highway was almost the same as my wifes Mazda CX5. Didn't have any issues in the year that I had it. Didnt do any serious towing though, so no answer on that front.

 

Did you drive any others beforehand or were you sure you wanted an F150? I drove several trucks last year and really preferred the Tundra and Ram, just hated the Tundras ancient interior and HORRIFIC fuel consumption. 17MPG HWY...ouch.

 

I drove the Ford and the new 2020 Ram back to back. The Ram had an awesome interior but I did not care for the huge touch screen controls much. Also the turbo lag was terrrrrible! The F150 is slow don't get me wrong but the Ram I had to sink my foot in it and about wait 5 seconds before anything happened. Might just be something that will eventually be fixed in a recall or something but those 2 things alone put me in the Ford.

 

@backcountryme

 

If your one of those people who just rents trucks for a couple years then sells and gets something else, the ram is an option. If you care about longevity because you actually own vehicles and want them to last, the ram is a terrible option.
GMC is not worth extra money over a chevy.
Ford is meh but better then anything chrysler by a long shot.

 

The trucks I drove were all 2019 gas models, and ironically the thing that put me off the ford 2.7 was the throttle tip in response. Truck was plenty fast but it took forever to respond, spool, go compared to the 5.0 (which was the obvious choice between the 2 for me).


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I fall closer to the latter. I have 2 small babies so I’ll be in a crewmax type truck for quite some time, and will be financially tied up in other areas. That was also on my mind when I test drove the gas versions and felt like the Tundra despite its shortcomings was a good option long term.


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I have a '15 Ram Eco, 85k miles now and purchased new... Only problem is that I have a Diesel Particulate Sensor that is on the fritz. I have another sitting on my desk to replace but the connector is WAY underneath the truck and a PITA to get to. The code comes and goes and I'm not going to give the dealer money to fix it. When truck was new they wanted $270 for an oil change. It costs me $100 for oil, filter, and fuel filter and 30min. Never been back to the dealer

Truck gets 23-24mpg on average for a tank with mixed city hwy driving. Interior is awesome, drives really nice. I tow a heavily loaded dual axle enclosed easy peasy. Very much worth it for me.

 

I wouldn’t touch a modern diesel engine. The emissions systems on them ruin their reliability and kill potential fuel mileage. Deletes are soon to be outlawed, so that argument is no longer valid.

When you’re commuting in the thing and the emissions system is pumping fuel into the DPF to keep it burned clean, your fuel mileage will be worse than EPA-stated numbers. And, if it’s constantly going into re-gen cycles, it’ll be atrocious.

Fred Williams, of Dirt Every Day, had a Chevrolet 1/2T diesel for a short-termer and stated he was surprised at the low mileage numbers he saw and wasn’t very impressed with the performance...was adequate. With the Jeep JT diesel he had, he seemed to struggle to find any reason, other than fuel range, to buy it.

Stick with the non-turbo, gas engine of whatever brand you choose.

 

I love my ram ecoweasel

but after the last emissions update, I wouldn’t want to drive it without a tune.

and adding to this, not many tuners left.
I tow a 4k lbs trailer regularly, longest haul was Greenville SC - Austin, 4 peeps in the cab, 1 bike in bed, 3 in trailer. Did awesome, however, since we were in a hurry, we averaged 8.5 MPG. (But we basically passed everyone and everything)

same speed without trailer gets me 25 mpg highway and 22-23 around town.
30 mpg highway if I do 5-10 over.

build quality is not the best admittedly, but I knew that and unfortunately PORSCHE doesn’t build trucks.
Note on all diesels: if they have the Bosch CP-4 pump, they are prone to failing (lifters) due to the lower sulfur content here

I will keep mine until the extended warranty runs out.

 

With the slight mileage difference I would just step up to a 2500 with a real diesel.

Their resale is amazing.

Otherwise just stick with a gasser if you're driving a half ton.

 

The mileage difference is way more than slight from what I read. The 5.0 Titan was around 20mpg hwy, these 6 cylinders are near 30mpg. And a 2500 is just bigger on the outside where I don’t need the extra bed length etc.

I’m not super opposed to a gasser, but man averaging 16mpg for 15-20k miles/year sounds shitty. Especially if gas makes its way back to $3+ again.


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If gas bumps to 3 bucks diesel will be 4 or more. Don't forget winter treatment if you live in cold climates.

If you live in a really cold climate they are definitely not better than gas.

It's just a math game is all.

 

Phil's posts above are part of what convinced me to get one. I tried to talk myself out of it but just couldn't. The gas ones get respectable mileage, have a higher tow rating than the diesels, more power, less maintenance, etc. I just really wanted a diesel...I like the smell of it : ) Really though, I love running around at lower rpm's, particularly when towing. My last diesel was a 5.9 cummins that sounded like a big rig. These new 3 liters are as quiet as a car. I'll post back next week after I get to pull my camper this weekend with how it does

 

Would you really want to drive this?

Go drive the V-6 1/2T options. They have as much/more power as my ‘06 Silverado 5.3L. I rented (Enterprise) a Ram V-6 and was blown away by how well it performed, especially the mileage. The 8spd transmission allows them to boogy. I’d have no problem buying one to replace what I have.